The defending champions of the Asia Cup, India, have started in a similar fashion by winning their first two games and making their way to the "Super Four" quite comprehensively. They won against archrivals Pakistan in their first match and then beat Hong Kong in the second game.

However, they will face either of these two teams once again in the first game of the "Super Four" stage. Apart from India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are the other two teams who have qualified for the next round. But ahead of their next clash, the Rohit-led team suffered a huge blow.

Ravindra Jadeja, the star Indian all-rounder who laid the groundwork for both victories, has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to a knee injury. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed this news by sharing a statement on Friday.

NEWS - Axar Patel replaces injured Ravindra Jadeja in Asia Cup squad.

More details here - https://t.co/NvcBjeXOv4 #AsiaCup2022

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 2, 2022

Notably, the BCCI has announced Axar Patel as the replacement for Jadeja for the ongoing tournament. Axar, who was part of the reserve team for the tournament, will join the Indian team in Dubai soon. However, it will be a big setback for India as Jadeja did pretty well in both games.

The BCCI confirmed in a statement, "The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Axar Patel as the replacement for Ravindra Jadeja in the ongoing Asia Cup. Jadeja has sustained a right knee injury and is ruled out of the tournament."

The all-rounder bowled two overs against Pakistan and gave away 11 runs and also played a vital innings of 35 runs off 29 balls in the tricky chase. On the other hand, against Hong Kong, he didn't get a chance to bat but bowled his four overs for 1/15. Hence, it will be a big shoe to fill for Axar.

Axar, who has been in the scheme of things for India, has been playing regularly with the Indian side. He did pretty well against the West Indies and Zimbabwe. Now India might look to draft him directly into the team to provide the balance.

Indian Squad for the Asia Cup 2022

Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Ravindra Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh